Utility CyclingWant to haul groceries, beer, maybe even your kids? You don't have to live car free to put your bike to use as a workhorse. Here's the place to share and learn about the bicycle as a utility vehicle.

I've posted before that I sometimes haul a girlfriend or a neighbor's kid by letting the passenger sit side saddle on the top tube. I learned that method when I learned to ride a bike in Hawaii. There weren't enough bikes to go around so we'd "pack" kids on the top tube. Well here at bike forums someone posted a photo of a guy carrying a girl on the handlebars where the passenger sat facing backwards. Well I ran into a situation where one of my girlfriends got mixed up as to her destination and told me to meet her at the wrong metro station. Anyway I suggested this handlebar method instead of the toptube method. She didn't hug me and put her head on my shoulder like the girl in the photo. She sat upright and just held my shoulders. We experimented a bit. The bike I used had a hoizontal top tube and she found it a little too cramped to put her feet flat on the top tube. She liked resting her feet on the down tube better. She said she found this handlebar method more comfortable than sitting side saddle on the top tube. I liked it better because I didn't have to splay my knees out so much as I pedalled. Steering wasn't much of a problem her body could just twist as I moved the handlebars. Thanks to whoever posted the picture.